


power of three

by grungely



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/F, Lesbian Heather Holloway, Lesbian Kali Prasad, Lesbian Robin Buckley
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:22:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24432037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grungely/pseuds/grungely
Summary: robin, kali, and heather were a trio of inseparable friends. then kali mysteriously disappeared. followed by heather distancing herself from robin after finding new friends. robin's over it, but kali's return changes a few things.
Relationships: Heather Holloway & Robin Buckley, Heather Holloway / Robin Buckley, Kali Prasad & Robin Buckley, Kali Prasad / Robin Buckley, Robin Buckley & Kali Prasad & Heather Holloway, Robin Buckley/Heather Holloway, Robin Buckley/Kali Prasad, Robin Buckley/Kali Prasad/Heather Holloway
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> kind of an au

April 1985

Tapping her pen against the papers in her binder, Robin squinted at the words on the slides that her English teacher was reading out. She was seemingly paying attention, but her head was miles away.

In the seat next to her, her good friend Nancy, was, as always, doing her own thing, making sure her notes were organized. The class' desks were formed in a discussion circle, one of Robin's least favorite parts of every unit.

Her eyes fell on the clock; three minutes until next class.

Her shoulders drooped and she sat back in her seat restlessly. Nancy looked over to her with a brow raised.

"You okay?" She mouthed.

Robin shrugged, truly not knowing if she was. She didn't sleep the night before, staying up focusing on final papers when she usually would put them off. She just needed a distraction, and writing was one of her escapes, essay or her own work.

Finally, the bell rung, and she was the first to jump out of her seat. She waited for Nancy to gather her things in her usual slow manner, which always annoyed Robin. She sometimes questioned their friendship, but Nancy was someone she could rely on at least five out of seven days a week.

"Can we hurry up, please?" She tapped her foot against the floor.

"Relax." Nancy shoved the rest of her things into her purse. "No one's ever on time anywhere."

"I just wanna get today over with." Robin began walking to let her know she wouldn't be waiting around much longer.

She didn't question, instead following her out of the room and to the next class.

"Oh wait," Nancy extended her arm out in front of Robin. "I need to stop at Popoff's for something."

Robin let out an impatient breath and motioned her to lead the way.

When they got to Popoff's class, Robin decided to grab her sweater from her locker before forgetting it.

As she put on her black cardigan, Nancy nudged her side.

"What the hell?"

She pointed her head behind her, and Robin's heart instantly skipped a beat at who she saw.  
Her "best friend", Heather, chatting up Popoff.

"You know, we can go now," Nancy offers. "I can always ask him after school."

But before Robin could take her up on that, her and Heather's eyes met. It was obvious she was surprised to see Robin; they hadn't even been in each other's vicinity Heather's new "friends" weren't so keen on having Robin around.

Robin gave her a small smile, Nancy doing the same. Heather somehow took this as a sign to come over and greet face to face.

"Buck."

"Hey." Robin unintentionally whispers. "What's been going on?"

"Oh, you know," Heather played with a strand of wavy dark hair. "Trying to get my grades up before my life gets ruined by not graduating in two months."

Robin give a polite chuckle. "I get it. Popoff's a total pushover. I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Yeah." Heather nods.

Nancy looks at Robin as an uncomfortable silence fills the room, the only sound being Popoff writing on the chalkboard.

"Well," Nancy looked at her pink wrist watch. "Abram won't like it if we're late again."

"Oh, yeah." Robin agreed. "It was nice seeing you, Heather."

"Yeah, totally." Heather smiles, captivating her friend once more with how gorgeous she was when she smiled or laughed. "We should catch up sometime. Is the parlor still your favorite place?"

"You remembered?" Nancy places her hand over her heart.

Robin glared at her for a split second before Heather could catch on. "Yeah."

"Awesome." To Robin and Nancy's surprise, Heather hugs me.

Robin and Nancy leave through the back door of the classroom to avoid awkwardly going the same direction as Heather.

"She remembered—"

"Yes, I know." Robin stomped down the hall, adrenaline still pumping.

"You know it's okay to admit you still kind of have some type of feelings for her." Nancy assures me in a sympathetic voice.

"I don't," Robin snaps, almost too quickly. "You know how I get when I see people from my past. She's not special."

"Robin..."

"Really," Robin picked up the pace. "I just want to get to Abram's."

But looking back at Heather standing with her little posse, her attention almost fully on Robin, she knew where she actually would rather be.


	2. 2

"Okay, I think that's good enough for today." Jonathan Byers removed a clip from a photograph hanging a few inches away from his face as he closely examined it.

Robin looked down at the small pile of photographs she'd been sorting through, still searching for the perfect snapshot for her art project. "Um, yeah, sure. Thanks for the help."

"If you need anymore help, I'm always in here." Jonathan smiles shyly.

Robin dismissed herself from Jonathan with a quick nod before exiting the dark room. She still had no idea what she was doing, but she definitely wasn't going to bother Jonathan repeatedly.

As she was walking home, Robin once again sorted through the stack of photographs, not feeling satisfied by any of them. Sure, she'd taken a few shots of random things like trees and abandoned bicycles, but that didn't make her a professional. And it certainly wasn't good enough for the art teacher's high standards.

It wasn't until she opened her bag to toss the stack in that she realized a couple of other pictures were at the very bottom of her unorganized bag, just waiting to be discovered. 

Curious, she stopped in her tracks, grabbing the old stack, expecting rejected snaps. Instead, she got a knife through the heart.

Skimming through, Robin felt her heart skip a beat as she examined the photos of her and her old friend, Kali, that she forgot she'd taken one time in her bedroom.

She still remembered the exact song that was playing in the background as the two playfully teased one another about how weird-looking they'd come out in some pictures. The way Kali would admire Robin's "photogenic hair", all the while letting Robin try out Kali's signature leather jacket. 

Robin was sure that night was going to be engrained in her memory, because she knew Kali was hiding something big. And Robin had a feeling she knew exactly what it was.

One misstep and Robin fell into Kali's arms, not minding that neither of them bothered moving. She saw something in Kali's eyes, something telling her to lean in and at least give a quick peck. And she did just that.

They were both taken aback; usually Kali was the bold one, but something in Robin made her feel ballsy enough to make a move. At first it seemed like a joke, but as they fell into each other's arms, passionately kissing as if they'd been waiting a long time to get there.

And then Kali was just gone the next day.

Robin felt her eyes water, but managed to keep cool, shoving the photos back into the very deep bottom of her bag.

"Robin?"

Startled, Robin spun around and was at first relieved to see Heather standing there, but tensed up when she realized Heather was standing there. 

"Are you okay? I saw you walking and wanted to catch up with you."

"Yeah, I'm fine. What's up?"

Heather pushed a piece of hair behind her ear and looked to the ground as she spoke. "Can we talk? Melvin's?"

Robin, eager to visit her favorite ice cream shop for the first time since winter, happily agreed, but regretted it once the two sat down at a table near the window, sitting in awkward silence. Heather tried making it seem like she was rummaging through her bag, but Robin used that exact same tactic in uncomfortable situations.

"How're you been?" Heather cleared her throat, putting her bag down beside her.

"Okay, I guess." Robin played around with the M&Ms she'd added as a topping, not so hungry anymore. 

"Good."

Another silence, but it wasn't awkward. Robin could feel Heather staring at her with a barely-noticeable smile.

"I'm sorry."

Robin looked up at her former best friend in confusion. "Huh?"

"For what I did." Heather bit her lip nervously. "It was shitty of me. I knew you were hurting and I just walked away. I guess I was just angry."

"Angry?" Robin was intrigued now. "About?"

Heather must've not meant to say that, because the fear on her face when asked that question became evident. "Um, I dunno. I guess because we were... growing apart?"

But Robin knew exactly what Heather was referring to. It wasn't like they were *this* close to confessing how they felt about one another or anything.

"It's fine. I get it. I was angry too."

"Really?" Heather sat up a little straighter. "I'm glad you understand."

"Totally."

The girls sat, eyeing each other longingly, waiting for the other to speak up to what they were both probably thinking. 

The honk of a car horn snapped the two out of their daze, and Robin recognized the people in and around the truck. 

"Holloway!" An aggressive voice called out. "We're heading to the junkyard, you coming?"

Junkyard? Robin thought to herself. Since when did Heather like hanging in junkyards?

Heather looked sadly at Robin, then at the truck, and then back to Robin. "I gotta go, but I'll see you around. Maybe we can grab a bite sometime. Deal?"

"Deal." Heather didn't even bother waiting for Robin's response.


End file.
